Acer Shows Off Iconia Tab A110, Sub-$200 Quad-Core Tablet

At this year’s Computex trade show in Taipei, amidst little fanfare, Acer took the wraps off a sub-$200 quad-core Ice Cream Sandwich tablet — the Iconia Tab A110.

At first glance, this may not seem like significant news. The Iconia Tab A110 is 7 inches, runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (uncustomized) and is powered by an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor — on the whole, some rather unexciting specs. But speaking to The Verge, an Acer representative said the A110 would be asserted as the manufacturer’s primary low-end device in Q3 2012, and that it would be available then for less than $200.

Previously, Nvidia had floated around the idea of sub-$200 quad-core tablets and dubbed the strategy “Project Kai,” but hadn’t come out with any more news beyond that. Then a recent rumor mused that the Asus Nexus Tablet (which hasn’t been confirmed thus far) might be the first tablet to sport four cores at this price point, and would perhaps be unveiled at Google I/O. Now, it seems Acer has jumped the gun on both these endeavors with the unveiling of the Iconia A110.

The rest of the Iconia A110’s specs are humdrum, including 1GB of RAM, 1024 x 600 resolution, 8GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD), a front-facing camera (only), HDMI output and dual-display support. Plus, it’s a little thick at 11.4mm, with rather narrow viewing angles. But if you’re a budget-conscious, power-hungry goon who thinks doubling processing capacity is worth sacrificing other features, you may want to consider the Iconia A110.